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The_Face_of_Boo
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24 Jan 2023, 6:31 am

Dengashinobi wrote:
The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
Dengashinobi wrote:
Sounds good but no democracy in the horizon :roll:


It is a Monarchy! :lol:

Btw, usually the Saudi King is elected by a committee of princes, usually they go by agnatic seniority.
MBS is the king’s son and this against the usual convention.

To be fair, they are doing far better than the democracy you brought to Iraq and… Afghanistan.
Lebanon is democratic and we’re in the bottom too.


I'm sure the Saudis have their own tradition, their own social structure and is definitely better than an imposed democracy. Democracy if it has to exist must be a product of internal social dynamics. A republic is the best system in my opinion, since it offers checks and balances and is better protected from demagogues. It is as ugly as it can get but at least it prevents someone from dictating their desires on the rest. In a republic you can be a non binary vegan communist and your rights will be respected, you can be a fundamentalist Christian or Muslim or Jew and your rights will still respected. Is it an uneasy coexistence? Yes, but at least everybody gets a chance to live their lives as they see fit.


Democracy without ingrained sense of nationalism and loyalty to country in a society, is useless. Like magz said, those societies suffer from clan/sect/tribal dynamics, the group's interest to them is more imporant than the country's benefit as a whole; and that makes democracy very vunerable to be toyed by external foreign forces, bringing groups to power who are nothing but puppets for a foreign force.

Iraq is in a mess today, mostly due to Iran/KSA's interference in it, Iran literally vaccumed Iraq's wealth for years and that's why we have seen large protests against Iran's presense in Iraq; but that wouldn't have happened if not a large portion of their people swore allegiance to Iran (mainly due to religious identity, there's two major factions of Twelver Shias)

Hezbollah in Lebanon for instance, is more loyal to Iran (by far) than to their own country, rendering to nothing but puppets for them.



RetroGamer87
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24 Jan 2023, 9:44 pm

The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
Dengashinobi wrote:
Sounds good but no democracy in the horizon :roll:


It is a Monarchy! :lol:


Image


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TwisterUprocker
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24 Jan 2023, 10:14 pm

RetroGamer87 wrote:
Can Saudi Arabia become Dubai but without the tacky megaprojects and investment bubbles?


Even though I am not as interested in skyscrapers as when I was younger I still want to see the Burj Khalifa one day.



The_Face_of_Boo
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25 Jan 2023, 3:36 am

RetroGamer87 wrote:
The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
Dengashinobi wrote:
Sounds good but no democracy in the horizon :roll:


It is a Monarchy! :lol:


Image



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_ ... troduction



magz
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25 Jan 2023, 3:54 am

The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
Iraq is in a mess today, mostly due to Iran/KSA's interference in it, Iran literally vaccumed Iraq's wealth for years and that's why we have seen large protests against Iran's presense in Iraq; but that wouldn't have happened if not a large portion of their people swore allegiance to Iran (mainly due to religious identity, there's two major factions of Twelver Shias)
Some time ago, I tried to figure out what are the defining theological differences between Sunni and Shia Islam... and I failed. There were some nuances but overall, it looked like it wasn't theology but allegiance.

So, yeah, sect dynamics.
I'm really impressed that Saudis are able to host pilgrims from all these sects without turning into a hellhole of fights.


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naturalplastic
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26 Jan 2023, 5:51 pm

Yes. Most of these Arab nations are jury-rigged bundles of random content. loosely tied, and left by the Demster Dumpster by the powers of Europe after World War One. Tiny little Lebanon fell apart in the Seventies. Iraq was held together by the brute force of Saddam Hussien. And its a miracle that its lasted this long after the US occupation without falling apart.

Egypt at least is a real country. Not sure about Saudi Arabia.

SA LOOKS like its comparable in giant size on the map to its rival, Iran, but though the two are comparable in physical land area Iran has about twenty times the population size of SA (about a quarter of SA is actually called 'the empty quarter' for a reason-its such an extreme desert that no one lives in the region). That alone explains why SA is sh*****g in its pants, and is making nice with Israel right now. :lol:



The_Face_of_Boo
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07 Feb 2023, 3:47 am

"Saudi cleric says niqab not Islamic as wife shows face on TV"

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saud ... ws-face-tv

Clerics: Women must wear niq-
MBS *turning on the chainsaw*
Clerics: Um...niqabs are not islamic!



naturalplastic
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07 Feb 2023, 4:40 am

So...MBS is...oppressing the oppressors? :lol:



cyberdad
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07 Feb 2023, 3:46 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
So...this new crowned prince is...a bastard who murders journalists with hacksaws, but...makes all of these great reforms too?


Is it really so surprising? I recall King Hussain of Jordan was considered a great reformer and pro-western. He also murdered thousands of his so-called allies.



The_Face_of_Boo
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08 Feb 2023, 2:59 am

^ King Hussain tamed the PLO, expelled them, and, unlike Lebanon’s Muslims who embraced the PLO, saved his country from civil war.



cyberdad
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08 Feb 2023, 3:31 am

The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
^ King Hussain tamed the PLO, expelled them, and, unlike Lebanon’s Muslims who embraced the PLO, saved his country from civil war.


"tamed"? you mean like the way the pro-American Kuwaitis "tamed" the PLO?
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm ... story.html

Seems to be a lot that in the middle east.